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“One thing I’ve learned in Tampa that they’ve reiterated here is that you want to catch line drives. We don’t want guys to be kind of where they hit it,” he explained. “We want to be exactly where they hit it the hardest, because then if they deviate from there, it’s a little weaker contact. Weaker contact does what? It gives the infielder more time to get to those balls.

“It’s all probability. It’s all probability. If this guy hits the ball on the screws, what’s the probability that you’ll get it? You’ve got to be right there pretty much, or within arm’s length. If this guy chops the ball then the probability of you getting the ball there is great. If 90 percent of my balls are hit from the cut-outs in, I’ll give you that 10 percent, because hopefully the next ball is going to be in that 90 percent and right at somebody. That’s the beauty of baseball and the statistical revolution, things going on now, but it’s just really smart. It’s not just doing things because it’s how they’ve always been done. … Just increasing your probability of being where the ball is going to be hit is a pretty simple concept and I think nowadays teams are doing it pretty well.”

That was back when I thought Leavitt was only one of the more lazy authors I've ever read, rather than the laziest sonofabitch who ever somehow got hired by a major university. The man is a joke.

Badenhop, on the other hand, seems to be using statistics exactly the right way as a player, not trying to change his game too much and understanding that good process doesn't always mean good results.

Eh, I mentioned this article in the Nationals thread about their apparent disdain for fWAR and OPS+.

#3 nails it. Badenhop has simply utilised the data available to maximise his ability to get guys out. He's not rebuilding Rome or anything. He's knows what he is and he's now got information at hand that allows him to do the job he's paid to do.
Would be like most of us trying to work without a computer. Sure you can still do things, but not nearly as well.

Of all the soundtracks that have greeted a reliever on the commute from the bullpen to the mound, it’s safe to suggest that the Freakonomics podcast has never been employed. Though an unabashed fan of the series, new Red Sox reliever Burke Badenhop is unlikely to buck that trend.

Bringing up a point and then immediately discarding it. It's Writing 101, people.

graduated magna cum laude with a degree in economics from Bowling Green University

Woo! Forward Falcons!

My love of my alma mater aside, Badenhop really seems to understand what he's doing out there. He's not the most physically gifted guy in the world - there are literally thousands of people who can throw a baseball as hard as he can - but good things tend to happen when you can consistently throw strikes down in the zone. You don't need to throw 98 when you don't walk anybody or give up any home runs.